


Mind's Eye

by mikkimouse



Category: Tiger & Bunny
Genre: Established Relationship, Future Fic, Gen, Hero Kaede Kaburagi, Humor, M/M, POV Outsider, Telepathy, Trope Bingo Round 14
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-17
Updated: 2020-05-17
Packaged: 2021-03-02 22:06:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 705
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24234034
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mikkimouse/pseuds/mikkimouse
Summary: Kaede copies the ability to read minds and immediately has Many Regrets when she reads Barnaby's.
Relationships: Barnaby "Bunny" Brooks Jr./Kaburagi T. Kotetsu
Comments: 21
Kudos: 158
Collections: Trope Bingo: Round Fourteen





	Mind's Eye

**Author's Note:**

> Shoutout to [Painted](https://twitter.com/paintedrecs) for giving me the idea for this fic when I was rolling around and whining about not being able to think of something for the prompt. 
> 
> This fic is for the Telepathy/Mind Meld square on my [Trope Bingo board](https://mad-madam-m.dreamwidth.org/17415.html).

"I _hate_ telepathy," Rock Bison grumbled. 

Kaede finished tying the criminal's hands behind his back and stood. "Because of Jake?" 

"Because nobody should be able to read your mind!" Bison tapped the side of his helmet. "That's private. And to use it against you? That's just low." 

"Believe me, buddy, sometimes it's a curse," the criminal said. 

Kaede rolled her eyes. "Oh, be quiet." 

This guy had just spent the past half-hour leading them all on a chase through the city, using his mind-reading powers to stay a few steps ahead. It had just been a lucky break that he'd crashed right into her and Bison as they were coming up on this corner. 

She turned back to Rock Bison. "Are the police on their way?" 

He nodded. "Agnes says they'll be here soon." 

"Not soon enough," the criminal muttered.

Just then, Barnaby and her dad—no, he was Tiger right now; she _really_ had to get used to thinking of him like that—came running around the corner, the lights on their suits indicating their powers had run out. 

The visor on Dad's helmet slid up and he grinned. "Hey, Kaede! Did you catch him? Good job!" 

Kaede pointed at her mask. " _Tiger!_ "

He winced. "Ah, sorry, Copycat." 

Barnaby's visor slid up. "You'd think of all people, _you'd_ remember when to use her hero name, old man." 

Her dad turned and jabbed his finger in Barnaby's face. " _Hey!_ I know!"

The criminal tried to scramble to his feet. "Get them _away_ from me!" 

Kaede grabbed his arm. "Stop trying to escape!" 

By instinct, she activated her powers. She'd touched Rock Bison last; she should still have those. 

Except, she realized a split-second too late, Rock Bison _wasn't_ the last NEXT she'd touched. The criminal was. 

New thoughts and images flooded her mind—the criminal frantically hoping for escape, Rock Bison wondering which of them was getting the points for the arrest and thinking about how hot his suit was—but they were quickly overshadowed by one image in particular: Barnaby and her dad in their bodysuits and _making out_.

Kaede screeched and clapped her hands over her head, as if that would somehow make the image stop. "Augh, that's _gross_! Dad, stop thinking _stop thinking!_ " 

"What?!" Her dad sounded both concerned and confused. "I'm not thinking about anything! Kaede, are you okay?" 

" _No,_ I'm not okay, I—" 

She was about to snap that she would never be okay again after seeing that, but then she looked up and met Barnaby's eyes and realized, with no small amount of horror, that it wasn't her dad's thoughts she was getting. 

Kaede was going to _die_. 

She practically flung herself at Rock Bison and had never been so happy to feel her powers shift to something else in her _entire life_. 

"What's going on?" Dad raised his fist at the criminal and took a step forward. "Hey, you, what the hell did you do to my daughter?" 

"The same thing every NEXT does when they touch her," Barnaby said stiffly, his face the same shade of pink as his suit. "She copied his power and could briefly read thoughts." 

"Oh." Her dad stopped advancing and turned to Kaede. "So you're not hurt?" 

Not physically, but mentally she was _scarred for life_. It was bad enough having to watch them be sappy on a daily basis; she had _never_ needed to know what Barnaby really thought of her dad. She buried her face in her hands. " _Please_ go away. I can't look at you right now."

"Hey, Kaede—" 

"I think we should honor her request and head back to the van. She and Rock Bison can handle it from here," Barnaby cut in. "Come on, Kotetsu." 

"But, Bunny—" 

" _Come on_." 

Kaede looked through her fingers to see Barnaby literally dragging her dad away, and breathed a sigh of relief. She wanted nothing more than to pretend the last two minutes had never happened. That was going to haunt her dreams for weeks. _Weeks_. 

"So, uh, do I want to know what you saw?" Rock Bison asked. 

Kaede shuddered. " _No_. And we're never talking about it again. _Ever_." She looked up at him. "You were right. I _hate_ telepathy." 

**Author's Note:**

> Come see me on:  
> [Twitter](https://twitter.com/mad_madam_m)  
> [Tumblr](https://mad-madam-m.tumblr.com/)  
> [Dreamwidth](https://mad-madam-m.dreamwidth.org/)  
> [Pillowfort](https://www.pillowfort.social/mad-madam-m)


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